Save Article

Online-Payment Firms Target China

Immature Market Has Slew
Of Companies Popping Up
In Effort to Gain Foothold

By

Rebecca BuckmanStaff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Updated Aug. 11, 2005 12:01 a.m. ET

The Internet in China is red-hot these days, as illustrated by the frothy greeting U.S. investors gave the newly offered shares of Chinese Web-search engine Baidu.com Inc. and word that Yahoo Inc. is discussing buying a stake in Chinese Web company Alibaba.com Corp.

But Internet commerce is still a young and immature industry in China, partly because it remains difficult to pay for products and services online. Very few Chinese have credit cards, and, until recently, there have been few online-payment services. The result:...